S1 Ep1: Bryce Corbett

Bryce was at the end of a two-year working visa in the UK working for SkyNews when he decided he wasn’t quite ready to come home.  He was working for the entertainment desk and one day when habitually swapping his copy of “Heat” magazine for the finance desk’s copy of the “Economist” he stumbled on a job ad for a role that “no one ever gets”.  He applied anyway, took a sick day and a Eurostar to Paris and the next ten years, as they say, are history. 

 

Over the next decade, on top of working for the International Chamber of Commerce as the Director of Communications, he met his wife, a professional dancer with the Moulin Rouge. Originally from Brisbane, his wife had already been in Paris for many years and like Bryce, initially thought she would end up with someone a ‘bit more exotic’ rather than a fellow Aussie but love in the City of Lights had other ideas.

 

Together they built a life in Paris, also writing books about their experiences, before returning home ten years later with two children (with French passports) in tow.

 

Arriving back into Sydney, Bryce recounts enormous culture shock, somewhat brought on by trying to adjust to the light and heat of an Australian summer after 12 European winters.  He talks about the first few months of uncertainty, the feeling of ‘what have we done?’ and how quickly the rose-coloured glasses for Paris were put on.

 

He was fortunate to have secured a job as Executive Editor of the Woman’s Weekly before returning home - but it wasn’t easy. He describes during the job search, many conversations with people who seemed to ignore or discount his 12 years abroad, preferring to talk about the last job he had in Australia.  He said it was like his career and life overseas had been ‘paused’ in the minds of many people.

 

Fortunately, Bryce’s time in Paris had taught him the power of reinvention and resilience.

 

After the Women’s Weekly, Bryce continued his journalism career with stints at the AFR and 60 Minutes and now is a strategic communications adviser for Domestique Consulting co-author of Unmasked Turia Pitt and A Mother’s Story by Rosie Batty plus the host and creator of Squiz Kids.

 

He and his family now live in Brisbane where they have settled and got used to the light.